Taqrib al-Tadmuriyyah - Ibn al-'Uthaymin - (98)

Taqrib al-TadmuriyyahIbn al-'Uthaymin

—that same One will surely bring the dead to life, and He is powerful over all things.” (Q 30:48–50)

– Among the revealed (sharʿī) causes is His statement: “There has come to you from Allah a light and a clear Book; through it Allah guides those who seek His pleasure to the paths of peace, brings them out of darkness into light by His permission, and guides them to a straight path.” (Q 5:15–16)

Every deed to which Allah has attached either punishment or reward is counted as a revealed cause inasmuch as the servant is commanded concerning it, and as a decreed (qadarī) cause inasmuch as its occurrence lies within Allah’s decision and decree.

People with respect to causes fall into two extremes and a middle course:

The first extreme consists of the deniers, who repudiated the effectiveness of causes and treated them as mere signs beside which an event occurs, not through which it occurs. They even claimed that when a glass breaks after being struck with a stone, the shattering takes place merely at the moment of contact, not because of it. Such people contradict revelation, defy sensory experience, and deny Allah’s wisdom in linking effects to their causes.
The second extreme consists of the excessives, who asserted that causes are effective but went too far by claiming they act by their own inherent power. In this they fell into shirk, for they acknowledged an originator alongside Allah and opposed both revelation and observation. The Book, the Sunnah, and the consensus of the ummah all testify that there is no creator but Allah. Moreover, sensory evidence shows that causes can fail to produce their effects by Allah’s permission—just as the fire failed to burn Abraham when he was thrown into it and Allah said, “O fire, be coolness and safety upon Abraham” (Q 21:69). The fire thus became cool and safe for him, and he was not harmed by it.
The middle course is that of those whom Allah has guided to the truth. They steered a path between the two factions, accepting the element of truth each one possessed: they affirm that causes do affect their effects, yet not by their own independent power, but only through the operative forces that Allah has placed within them.

ذَلِكَ لَمُحْيِي الْمَوْتَى وَهُوَ عَلَى كُلِّ شَيْءٍ قَدِيرٌ﴾ [الروم: ٤٨-٥٠] . - ومن الأسباب الشرعية قوله تعالى: ﴿قَدْ جَاءَكُمْ مِنَ اللَّهِ نُورٌ وَكِتَابٌ مُبِينٌ, يَهْدِي بِهِ اللَّهُ مَنِ اتَّبَعَ رِضْوَانَهُ سُبُلَ السَّلامِ وَيُخْرِجُهُمْ مِنَ الظُّلُمَاتِ إِلَى النُّورِ بِإِذْنِهِ وَيَهْدِيهِمْ إِلَى صِرَاطٍ مُسْتَقِيمٍ﴾ [المائدة: ١٥-١٦] . وكل فعل رتب الله عليه عقاباً أو ثواباً فهو من الأسباب الشرعية باعتبار كونه مطلوباً من العبد، ومن الأسباب القدرية باعتبار وقوعه بقضاء الله وقدره. والناس في الأسباب طرفان ووسط: فالطرف الأول: نفاة أنكروا تأثير الأسباب وجعلوها مجرد علامات يحصل الشيء عندها لا بها، حتى قالوا: إن انكسار الزجاجة بالحجر إذا رميتها به حصل عند الإصابة لا بها. وهؤلاء خالفوا السمع، وكابروا الحس، وأنكروا حكمة الله تعالى في ربط المسببات بأسبابها. والطرف الثاني: غلاة أثبتوا تأثير الأسباب، لكنهم غلوا في ذلك وجعلوها مؤثرة بذاتها، وهؤلاء وقعوا في الشرك، حيث أثبتوا موجداً مع الله تعالى وخالفوا السمع والحس. فقد دل الكتاب والسنة وإجماع الأمة على أنه لا خالق إلا الله، كما أننا نعلم بالشاهد المحسوس أن الأسباب قد تتخلف عنها مسبباتها بإذن الله، كما في تخلف إحراق النار لإبراهيم الخليل حين ألقي فيها فقال الله تعالى: ﴿يَا نَارُ كُونِي بَرْداً وَسَلاماً عَلَى إِبْرَاهِيمَ﴾ [الأنبياء: ٦٩] . فكانت برداً وسلاماً عليه ولم يحترق بها. وأما الوسط: فهم الذين هدوا إلى الحق وتوسطوا بين الفريقين وأخذوا بما مع كل واحد منهما من الحق، فأثبتوا للأسباب تأثيراً في مسبباتها لكن لا بذاتها بل بما أودعه الله تعالى فيها من القوى الموجبة.